Sigourney in search for new police officer

             After finishing a lengthy hiring process for a new officer in September, the Sigourney Police Department is once again seeking a full-time officer after the resignation of Deana Torgrim.

            “We are looking at advertising for a full-time officer at this time and discussed this with the human resources committee,” Sigourney Police Chief Allan Glandon said. “We are wondering if we could try to advertise for a certified officer to fast-track the processes much quicker than before. If that didn’t work, we’d open this up to anyone, which slows the system down.”

            This new hire comes as Glandon is set to retire from his position before August of this year. Derek Albert was hired in the fall to balance the number of full-time officers available upon Glandon’s retirement and is currently enrolled at the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy to complete his training for 15 weeks. Unlike Albert, Glandon hopes to have applicants that are already certified and have gone through academy training already.

            “Typically, those who are certified are experienced,” Glandon said. “Hiring a certified applicant will make this process quicker and save the department money that would have to be spend on tuition and other items at the academy.”

            A salary between $37,000 to $45,000 and benefits was approved by the Sigourney City Council, who agreed that the search for a certified officer for the first month was “a roll of the dice” but requested that the department move forward with this plan. According to Glandon, applicants would still likely have to do a psychological test if it’s been more than a year since they last did such testing

            “If they are currently serving as an officer, this can be what we call a lateral transfer, basically transferring an officer without the extra testing and long process,” Glandon said. “Derek Albert’s process took several months, and we are hoping this hiring will take less time, but if it doesn’t work we’re only out a month or so.”

            Glandon hopes to hire the officer and have him out on duty before his August retirement. For more information about the position, contact Sigourney City Hall at 622-3080.